The balance between human activity and the environment has been destroyed for
some time because of rapid development in all parts of the world. The
coexistence of development and the environment is achieved by technical and
economic approaches. The technical approach takes into account such factors as
air pollution measures, conserving energy, and recycling resources, while the
economic approach accounts for the costs of environmental disruption and
providing safeguards such as wildlife conservation and management plans. The
economic development of Japan in the 1950s required substantial electric power.
As a result, environmental and industrial pollution increased. The economy of
Japan reached a new high in the 1960s, and the generation of electric power was
overtaken by thermal power; which in turn was superseded by natural gas and
atomic power following the energy crisis of the 1970s. The Japanese economy
was depressed during the 1990s, but has recently shown signs of a gradual
recovery. Accordingly, the demand for electric power has increased over recent
years. The energy sources that will replace oil in the future are atomic power,
natural gas, and wind power. Hydropower stations discharge only minor carbon
dioxide, and are therefore better for the environment than atomic and natural
power stations. The environmental cost of the development of hydropower
stations is discussed in this paper.
Keywords: hydropower station, environmental cost, environmental consumption
tax.
1 Introduction
Prior to the industrial revolution, societies made good use of natural energy
resources such as wind, water, and fire. Coal was used as the primary energy